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The Hay Festival, whose UK newspaper partner is the Telegraph Media Group, is Britain’s leading festival of ideas.

History: The Hay Festival runs for 10 days and was devised by Norman and Peter Florence in 1988. The 2016 event will be the 29th festival. It was memorably described by President Bill Clinton as "a Woodstock of the mind". There is a children's festival, called 'Hay Fever' and international sister festivals around the world, including Nairobi, Cartagena, Belfast, Kells and Segovia.